[mythtv-users] Zap2it Labs Shutting Down?

Dan Ritter dsr-myth at tao.merseine.nu
Wed Jun 20 19:06:34 UTC 2007


On Wed, Jun 20, 2007 at 11:26:33AM -0700, Chris Petersen wrote:
> Dan Ritter wrote:
> > You can't copyright a title of a creative work. You can apply
> > for a trademark, but that doesn't restrict people from talking
> > about it. (I bought a box of Kleenex tissues yesterday. Want to
> > learn how to configure a cisco 2600?) And patents don't apply.
> 
> Call it trademark, then.  Either way, *most* tv show names belong to
> someone, and you can't legally publish information about them without
> proper attribution.

Nonsense. Not only do I not need proper attribution to tell you
that my local CBS affiliate is re-running "Three's Company"
episode #103 at 3PM this afternoon, I don't need anyone's
permission. 

A trademark restricts commercial products or services that
compete with the trademark holder's product or service. It means
that you can't sell a beverage and call it Coca-Cola. It even
means that you can't give away a brown, fizzy, sugary,
caffeinated beverage and call it Coca-Cola -- but you can sell
actual Coca-Cola and call it that.

> TMS's descriptions do probably fall under "creative work", though.

Arguably yes, arguably no. If there was criticism involved,
definitely yes. A factual summary may not be protected.

-dsr- not a lawyer, but I deal with them.


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